Iraq repatriates 706 people from Syria camp/node/2574751/middle-east
Iraq repatriates 706 people from Syria camp
Iraq repatriated 706 people from Syria’s Al-Hol camp, home to tens of thousands of people including family members of suspected militants, a security source said Thursday. (AFP/File)
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Updated 10 October 2024
AFP
Iraq repatriates 706 people from Syria camp
Al-Hol houses relatives of suspected Daesh group militants alongside refugees
The security source told AFP that “706 people, or 181 families, returned to Iraq from Al-Hol and were transferred to the Al-Jadaa“
Updated 10 October 2024
AFP
BAGHDAD: Iraq repatriated 706 people from Syria’s Al-Hol camp, home to tens of thousands of people including family members of suspected militants, a security source said Thursday.
More than 43,000 Syrians, Iraqis and other foreigners from at least 45 countries are held in the squalid and overcrowded camp in Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria.
Al-Hol houses relatives of suspected Daesh group militants alongside refugees.
The security source, who requested anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to the media, told AFP that “706 people, or 181 families, returned to Iraq from Al-Hol and were transferred to the Al-Jadaa,” a camp near the northern city of Mosul.
It is the fourth group of Iraqis brought back from Al-Hol in a year, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.
Repatriation of family members of suspected Daesh members has stirred controversy in Iraq, where the militant group seized large swathes of land before being defeated in late 2017.
To mitigate tensions, upon arrival in Iraq, authorities usually keep returnees from Al-Hol for weeks or even months at what officials describe as a “psychological rehabilitation” facility in Al-Jadaa camp, where they also undergo security checks before returning home.
The UN, the Palestinians, Israel and a stalled two-state solution
United Nations inextricably linked to the fate of Palestinians
In the absence of full membership, UNGA granted the Palestinians new rights in 2024
Updated 39 min 14 sec ago
AFP
UNITED NATIONS: Ever since the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states in 1947, the United Nations has been inextricably linked to the fate of Palestinians, with the organization meeting this week hoping to revive the two-state solution.
Here is a timeline on the issue:
In November 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 181 dividing Palestine — which was then under British mandate — into Jewish and Arab states, with a special international zone for Jerusalem.
Zionist leaders accepted the resolution, but it was opposed by Arab states and the Palestinians.
Israel declared independence in May 1948, triggering the Arab-Israeli war which was won convincingly by Israel the following year.
Around 760,000 Palestinians fled their homes or were expelled — an event known as the “Nakba,” Arabic for “catastrophe,” which the United Nations only officially commemorated for the first time in May 2023.
People paint as they participate in an event organized by a muralist brigade to protest in support of the Palestinian people, in Mexico City, on July 27, 2025. (REUTERS)
In the aftermath of the Six-Day War of 1967, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 242, which called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from territories occupied during the conflict, including the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. But linguistic ambiguities between the English and French versions of the resolutions complicated matters, making the scope of the required withdrawal unclear.
In November 1974, Yasser Arafat, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), gave his first speech to the UN General Assembly in New York, saying he carried both “an olive branch and a freedom fighter’s gun.”
Days later, the UN General Assembly recognized the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and independence. It granted UN observer status to the PLO as a representative of the Palestinian people.
One of the strongest peace initiatives did not come from the United Nations.
In 1993, Israel and the PLO — which in 1988 unilaterally declared an independent State of Palestine — wrapped up months of secret negotiations in Norway’s capital Oslo.
The two sides signed a “declaration of principles” on Palestinian autonomy and, in 1994, Arafat returned to the Palestinian territories after a long exile and formed the Palestinian Authority, the governing body for the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
UN Security Council decisions on how to treat the Palestinians have always depended on the position of the veto-wielding United States.
Since 1972, Washington has used its veto more than 30 times to protect its close ally Israel. But sometimes, it allows key resolutions to advance.
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In March 2002, the Security Council — at Washington’s initiative — adopted Resolution 1397, the first to mention a Palestinian state existing alongside Israel, with secure and recognized borders.
In December 2016, for the first time since 1979, the Council called on Israel to stop building settlements in the Palestinian territories — a measure that went through thanks to a US abstention, just before the end of Barack Obama’s White House term.
And in March 2024, another US abstention — under pressure from the international community — allowed the Security Council to call for an immediate ceasefire amid Israel’s offensive on Hamas in Gaza, sparked by the militants’ October 7 attack.
That measure came after the United States blocked three similar drafts.
In 2011, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas initiated the process of requesting membership of the State of Palestine to the UN, which required a positive recommendation from the Security Council, followed by a favorable vote from the General Assembly.
In the face of opposition from the United States, the process was halted even before a vote in the Council.
The following year, the General Assembly granted the Palestinians a lower status as a “non-member observer State.”
In April 2024, the Palestinians renewed their request to become a full-fledged member state, but the United States vetoed it.
If the Palestinian request had cleared the Security Council hurdle, it would have had every chance of being approved by the necessary two-thirds majority in the Assembly.
According to an AFP database, at least 142 of the 193 UN member states unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.
In the absence of full membership, the Assembly granted the Palestinians new rights in 2024, seating them in alphabetical order of states, and allowing to submit resolution proposals themselves for the first time.
Yemen’s Houthis threaten to target ships linked to firms dealing with Israeli ports
Updated 28 July 2025
Reuters
Yemen’s Houthis said on Sunday they would target any ships belonging to companies that do business with Israeli ports, regardless of their nationalities, as part of what they called the fourth phase of their military operations against Israel.
In a televised statement, the Houthis’ military spokesperson warned that ships would be attacked if companies ignored their warnings, regardless of their destination.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces call on all countries, if they want to avoid this escalation, to pressure the enemy to halt its aggression and lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip,” he added.
Since Israel’s war in Gaza began in October 2023, the Iran-aligned Houthis have been attacking ships they deem as bound or linked to Israel in what they say are acts of solidarity with Palestinians.
In May, the US announced a surprise deal with the Houthis where it agreed to stop a bombing campaign against them in return for an end to shipping attacks, though the Houthis said the deal did not include sparing Israel.
Israel’s daily pauses fall short of easing Gaza suffering: UK
Food airdropped over besieged territory
38 Palestinians, 3 Israeli soldiers killed
Updated 27 July 2025
AP
LONDON, GAZA: Israel’s decision on Sunday to pause military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and allow new aid corridors falls short of what is needed to alleviate suffering in the enclave, Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said.
Lammy said in a statement that Israel’s announcement was “essential but long overdue,” and that access to aid must now be urgently accelerated over the coming hours and days.
“This announcement alone cannot alleviate the needs of those desperately suffering in Gaza,” Lammy said. “We need a ceasefire that can end the war, for hostages to be released and aid to enter Gaza by land unhindered.”
FASTFACT
Lammy said that access to aid must now be urgently accelerated over the coming hours and days.
The Israeli military said the “tactical pause” in Gaza City, Deir Al-Balah and Muwasi, three areas with large populations, would increase humanitarian aid entering the territory. The pause runs from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily until further notice.
Jordan said it carried out three airdrops over Gaza, including one in cooperation with the UAE, dropping 25 tonnes of food and supplies on several locations.
“Whichever path we choose, we will have to continue to allow the entry of minimal humanitarian supplies,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
Despite the annouoncement of temporary pauses, Israeli strikes killed at least 38 Palestinians from late Saturday into Sunday, including 23 seeking aid.
An airstrike on a Gaza City apartment killed a woman and her four children. Another strike killed four people, including a boy, his mother and grandfather, in the eastern Zaytoun neighborhood.
US President Donald Trump said Israel would have to make a decision on next steps in Gaza, adding that he did not know what would happen after moves by Israel to pull out of ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations with the Hamas militant group.
Trump underscored the importance of securing the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, saying they had suddenly “hardened” up on the issue.
“They don’t want to give them back, and so Israel is going to have to make a decision,” Trump told reporters at the start of a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his golf property in Turnberry, Scotland.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in southern Gaza on Sunday, the military said, a day after confirming another soldier had died of wounds sustained last week.
The two soldiers, aged 20 and 22, served in the Golani Infantry Brigade’s 51st Battalion.
Israeli military sources said they were killed when their armored vehicle exploded in the city of Khan Yunis.
Two Palestinian families in Jerusalem self-demolish their homes to avoid Israeli fines
Israel denies building permits to Palestinians in Jerusalem in most cases, while it carries out planned expansion of Jewish settlements in the city
In the case that Israeli authorities carry out the destruction, the families will be required to pay for the cost of the demolition, which could vary and may total hundreds of thousands of Shekels
Updated 27 July 2025
Arab News
LONDON: Two Palestinian families in occupied East Jerusalem have self-demolished their homes to avoid steep financial penalties imposed by the Israeli municipality for building without a permit on Sunday.
Israel denies building permits to Palestinians in Jerusalem in most cases, while it carries out planned expansion of Jewish settlements in the city and the occupied West Bank.
From 1991 to 2018, Israeli authorities approved only 16.5 percent of building permits in Palestinian neighborhoods, while the remaining permits were issued for Israeli neighborhoods in West Jerusalem and settlements, according to the organization Peace Now.
The Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate said that the Quraan family was forced to demolish their home in the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Halawanis also demolished their residential building, comprising six housing units, in Beit Hanina, located north of Jerusalem. As a result, around 30 individuals, including children, have been left without homes.
In the case that Israeli authorities carry out the destruction, the families will be required to pay for the cost of the demolition, which could vary and may total hundreds of thousands of Shekels.
The Jerusalem Governorate said that this is part of an Israeli “systematic policy of displacing” Palestinians from the city.
“Palestinian families in occupied Jerusalem are frequently denied building permits by Israeli authorities, leaving many with no legal option but to build without authorization,” it added.
Human Rights Watch and other groups have criticized Israel’s home demolition policy in Jerusalem as “discriminatory.”
Since Israel attacked Gaza in October 2023, authorities in Jerusalem have demolished 623 houses and other commercial facilities belonging to dozens of Palestinian families.
Sudan’s paramilitaries launch parallel govt, deepening the crisis
The RSF grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias, mobilized two decades ago by then-President Omar Bashir against populations that identify as Central or East African in Darfur
Updated 27 July 2025
AP
CAIRO: A paramilitary group and its allies in Sudan said they formed a parallel government in areas under the group’s control, which are located mainly in the western region of Darfur where allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity are being investigated.
The move was likely to deepen the crisis in Sudan, which plunged into chaos when tensions between the country’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, exploded into fighting in April 2023 in the capital, Khartoum and elsewhere in the country.
The RSF-led Tasis Alliance appointed Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the commander of the paramilitary group, as head of the sovereign council in the new administration. The 15-member council serves as head of the state.
The RSF grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias, mobilized two decades ago by then-President Omar Bashir against populations that identify as Central or East African in Darfur. The Janjaweed were accused of mass killings, rapes and
other atrocities.
In the current war, the RSF has been accused of numerous atrocities. The Biden administration slapped Dagalo with sanctions, saying the RSF and its proxies were committing genocide. The RSF has denied committing genocide.
The alliance spokesman Alaa Al-Din Naqd announced the new administration in a video statement from the Darfur city of Nyala, which is controlled by the RSF and its allied Janjaweed.
Mohammed Hassan Al-Taishi, a civilian politician who was a member of a military-civilian sovereign council that ruled Sudan following the 2019 overthrow of Al-Bashir, was named as prime minister in the RSF-controlled government.
Rebel leader Abdelaziz Al-Hilu, who commands the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) which is active in the southern Kodrofan region, was appointed as Dagalo’s deputy in the council. The SPLM-N is a breakaway faction of the SPLM, the ruling party of neighboring South Sudan.
The announcement came five months after the RSF and its allies signed a charter in February in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, with the aim of establishing a parallel government in RSF-controlled areas.
At the time, many countries, including the US, rejected the RSF efforts and condemned the signing by the paramilitary group and its allies of what they called “transitional constitution” in the Kenya-hosted conference.
The Foreign Ministry of the internationally recognized government in Khartoum condemned the announcement in a statement. It called it a “fake government” and urged the international community to not engage with the RSF-led administration.
The RSF-led move was likely to deepen the division in Sudan. Yasir Arman, a rebel leader, said the move is likely to prolong the conflict and divide Sudan between two rival administrations.
